The Top 15 Dental Conferences in 2026
Yankee Dental Congress
📅 January 29–31, 2026 📍 Boston, MA 🏛️ Massachusetts Dental Society
The year kicks off in Boston, and this one sets the bar.
What it is: Three days of CE, product demos, and team-wide education at one of the Northeast's biggest dental gatherings. Clinical sessions run alongside exhibit hall hours, so you can stack learning and vendor evaluation in the same trip. It's efficient, well-organized, and a strong way to start the year.
Who should attend: General dentists, hygienists, and office managers who want a full-team event without flying across the country.
Why it made our list: Yankee draws thousands of dental professionals every January and covers the full team, not just the dentist. If you want to kick off the year aligned with your staff, this is the move.
Pro tip: Hotel rooms near the convention center go fast. Register early and book accommodation the same day you commit.
Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting
📅 February 19–21, 2026 📍 Chicago, IL 🏛️ Chicago Dental Society
One of the most respected scientific meetings in the country, and it's been earning that reputation for decades.
What it is: Three days of cutting-edge CE, top-tier speakers, and a world-class exhibit hall showcasing the latest in dental technology and equipment. The education quality here is legitimately elite. The product floor gives you a front-row seat to what's actually shipping in 2026.
Who should attend: Practice owners and clinical leads who want serious CE alongside a strong vendor evaluation opportunity.
Why it made our list: The Midwinter Meeting has a reputation for being the most scientifically rigorous regional conference in the Midwest. If you care about clinical quality and want to see new tech before your competitors do, this is the room.
Pro tip: Hit the exhibit hall on Day 1 before attendance peaks. By Day 2, the floor is packed, and the good demos have lines.
The Thomas P. Hinman Dental Meeting
📅 March 12–14, 2026 📍 Atlanta, GA 🏛️ The Hinman Dental Society
Over $11 million in scholarships given. A legacy event that actually puts money where its mouth is.
What it is: A three-day meeting in Atlanta with an outstanding roster of speakers, strong clinical programming, and an exhibit hall that draws top vendors from across the country. The Hinman Society is nonprofit-run, and excess revenue goes directly to dental education scholarships, so attending here means your registration fee does more than just get you a badge.
Who should attend: Dentists and full dental teams looking for practical, high-quality CE in a conference that values hospitality as much as education.
Why it made our list: Hinman's reputation in the Southeast is unmatched. The clinical programming is consistently excellent, and the social events are genuinely worth staying for.
Pro tip: Do not skip the social events. Hinman is legendary for them, and the hallway conversations are where the real relationships get started.
AACD Conference
📅 April 16–18, 2026 📍 Aventura, FL 🏛️ American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry
If aesthetics is your bread and butter, this one is non-negotiable.
What it is: The premier cosmetic and aesthetic dentistry conference in the country. Expect deep dives into digital workflows, restorative innovation, full-arch solutions, and hands-on workshops led by some of the best cosmetic clinicians in the world. This is not a general dentistry event with a cosmetic track stapled on. It is built for aesthetic-forward practices from the ground up.
Who should attend: Cosmetic-focused general dentists, prosthodontists, and practice owners who have built or are building elective and esthetic service lines.
Why it made our list: Nowhere else will you find this concentration of aesthetic and digital dentistry expertise in a single room. If you want to be at the forefront of what premium dental care looks like in 2026, this is it.
Pro tip: The pre-conference hands-on workshops fill up fast and are often the highest-value part of the event. Grab those spots the moment registration opens.
Enterprise Dental Connect [★ DSO Focus]
📅 April 29–30, 2026 📍 Fort Lauderdale, FL
Two hundred DSO innovators, C-suite executives, and investors in one room. Intimate on purpose.
What it is: A think tank-style summit built specifically for scaling DSOs. The format is designed for strategic conversation, so forget passive learning. Expect sessions on innovation, growth, tech adoption, and future-proofing multi-location dental organizations. This is the kind of event where the conversations during the breaks matter as much as the sessions themselves.
Who should attend: DSO executives, group practice operators, dental investors, and dental tech founders who want to be in the room where decisions actually get made.
Why it made our list: Enterprise Dental Connect is deliberately capped to protect the quality of the room. That intentionality is rare in the conference world, and it shows in the caliber of who attends.
Pro tip: Do not sit on registration. The attendance limit is real, and the people in this room are not easy to get in front of anywhere else.
TDA Meeting
📅 May 7–9, 2026 📍 San Antonio, TX 🏛️ Texas Dental Association
Texas-sized conference. Nationally calibrated programming. Families welcome.
What it is: A three-day multi-track event covering clinical skills, business development, and team education for the entire dental practice. San Antonio is an easy destination, the programming pulls nationally recognized speakers, and the TDA does a genuinely good job of making the whole team feel included, not just the dentist.
Who should attend: Texas-based dentists and their full dental teams. If you've been looking for an excuse to bring staff to a conference, TDA is built for exactly that.
Why it made our list: The combination of clinical depth, business content, and team-wide tracks makes TDA one of the best value conferences in the country for practices in the Southwest.
Pro tip: There are dedicated tracks for hygienists, assistants, and front office staff. Brief your team on which sessions are most relevant to their role before you arrive, so they are not wandering the schedule on Day 1.
CDA Presents: The Art and Science of Dentistry
📅 May 14–16, 2026 📍 Anaheim, CA 🏛️ California Dental Association
The West Coast's must-attend. And yes, Disneyland is across the street.
What it is: A packed weekend of innovative lectures, leading speakers, exclusive vendor deals, and hands-on CE. CDA Presents covers clinical and business content in equal measure, which means you can leave with both new skills and a clearer picture of where to invest in your practice. The venue is easy, the energy is high, and the production quality consistently punches above its weight class.
Who should attend: California-based dentists first, but the programming quality makes it worth the trip for any West Coast practice owner.
Why it made our list: CDA Presents offers one of the best dollar-for-dollar returns of any conference on this list. Strong clinical content, business sessions, and vendor access all under one registration.
Pro tip: If you are bringing family, the Anaheim location makes it easy to extend the trip. Plan the conference first, then build the Disneyland day around it.
Pacific Northwest Dental Conference
📅 May 28–30, 2026 📍 Seattle, WA 🏛️ Washington State Dental Association
Three days of serious CE in one of the country's most underrated conference cities.
What it is: A well-organized regional conference that brings thousands of dental professionals together for clinical education, team development, and practice growth content. The Washington State Dental Association runs a tight program, the speakers are legitimately good, and Seattle in late May is a genuinely great city to be in for a long weekend.
Who should attend: PNW-based practices looking for strong mid-year CE. Also, a smart pick for any practice owner who wants a quality regional conference without the crowds of the big national shows.
Why it made our list: Consistent clinical quality in a city that knows how to host a conference. For Pacific Northwest practices, this belongs on the calendar every year.
Pro tip: Memorial Day weekend means Seattle fills up fast. Book your hotel the same week you register.
ADSO Summit [★ DSO Focus]
📅 June 15–17, 2026 📍 Chicago, IL 🏛️ Association of Dental Support Organizations
Dentistry's main event for DSO leadership. Three days. No filler.
What it is: The flagship conference for the DSO industry, planned by DSOs for DSOs. Three days of thought leadership, peer connection, and strategic programming from the operators, executives, and innovators who are actually shaping how group dentistry works in 2026. The ADSO Summit is not a general dental conference with a DSO panel thrown in. It is the whole thing.
Who should attend: DSO CEOs, COOs, CMOs (omg, who comes up with those), and any C-suite leader inside a dental support organization. If you run the business side of a multi-location group, this is your event.
Why it made our list: No other conference brings together DSO leadership at this scale with this level of programmatic focus. The peer connections formed here are some of the most valuable in the industry.
Pro tip: The evening networking events regularly outperform the daytime sessions for relationship building. Show up to both.
AGD Annual Meeting
📅 June 24–27, 2026 📍 Las Vegas, NV 🏛️ Academy of General Dentistry
Vegas plus world-class CE plus Fellowship and Mastership credits. The math works.
What it is: The premier scientific session for general dentistry, and the most important annual event for dentists pursuing AGD credentials. The education format is unique: one-hour lecture sessions designed for maximum clinical applicability, taught by some of the most respected clinicians in general dentistry. Every CE hour earned here counts directly toward AGD Fellowship and Mastership awards.
Who should attend: General dentists actively working toward AGD Fellowship or Mastership, and any clinician who wants a high concentration of practical CE in a single trip.
Why it made our list: The AGD meeting consistently delivers some of the highest-quality continuing education in general dentistry. If credentials matter to you, this is the most efficient place to earn them.
Pro tip: Build your CE calendar around this event first if you are chasing AGD credentials. Then fill in the rest of the year around it.
Dykema DSO Conference [★ DSO Focus]
📅 July 15–17, 2026 📍 Denver, CO (Gaylord Rockies) 🏛️ Dykema Law Firm
M&A, legal strategy, private equity, and DSO operations all in one building. If you are scaling, this room matters.
What it is: The leading conference at the intersection of dental, legal, and capital markets. Dykema brings together DSO founders, practice owners exploring partnership or exit, dental investors, and the legal and financial advisors who power the deals. The programming covers M&A activity, regulatory landscape, operational scaling, and PE dynamics in dental, and it does so with a depth that no general dental conference can match.
Who should attend: DSO founders, practice owners considering a partnership or exit, dental investors, and any legal, financial, or operational advisor working inside the dental M&A space.
Why it made our list: No other conference assembles the legal and PE ecosystem in dental like Dykema does. If capital events are relevant to your practice, this is where the relevant people are.
Pro tip: Come with a specific question or deal stage in mind. The hallway conversations here are worth their weight in signed term sheets.
Southwest Dental Conference
📅 August 21–22, 2026 📍 Dallas, TX 🏛️ Dallas County Dental Society
The Southwest's premier regional conference, without the big-conference price tag.
What it is: Two focused days of superior CE, top-tier speakers, and an exhibitor floor showcasing the latest dental technology and equipment. The Dallas County Dental Society runs a lean event that punches well above its size. You get national-caliber education without the noise and cost of the country's largest shows.
Who should attend: Texas and Southwest-based practitioners looking for efficient, high-quality mid-year CE without a multi-day commitment.
Why it made our list: The return on time invested here is hard to beat. Strong programming, focused format, and a vendor floor that keeps up with the big national events.
Pro tip: If you already attended TDA in May, the speaker lineup and exhibitors here are different enough to justify both. Do not assume there is overlap just because they are in the same state.
SmileCon / ADA Scientific Session
📅 October 8–10, 2026 📍 Indianapolis, IN 🏛️ American Dental Association
The ADA is discontinuing SmileCon after this year. This is your last chance.
What it is: The American Dental Association's flagship scientific session and professional development event. CE, clinical innovation, advocacy updates, and professional networking all in one place. SmileCon has been the ADA's primary consumer-facing conference brand for years, and 2026 marks its final edition before the ADA retires the format.
Who should attend: Any ADA member who has been on the fence about attending. If you have never gone, the farewell year is the year to go. If you are a regular, you already know.
Why it made our list: Legacy matters. This is one of the most recognizable events in American dentistry, and 2026 is its last run. That alone makes it worth putting on the calendar.
Pro tip: ADA members receive significant registration discounts. Verify your membership status before registering so you are not paying full price by accident.
Dental Leadership Summit [★ DSO Focus]
📅 September 16–18, 2026 📍 Austin, TX (Hyatt Regency Lost Pines) 🏛️ Dental Leadership Summit
This is not a conference. It is a curated leadership retreat for people who are actually building something.
What it is: An intentionally small, retreat-style summit for DSO executives and practice owners who want depth over volume. Strategy sessions share the schedule with outdoor activations like archery and horseback riding, and the whole event is designed to create the kind of conversations that do not happen in a convention center. The venue is a luxury resort outside Austin. The format is built around connection.
Who should attend: Practice owners, DSO founders, and dental entrepreneurs who are done attending conferences where they leave with a notebook full of ideas and no real relationships.
Why it made our list: The intentional cap on attendance protects the quality of the room in a way that most events cannot or will not do. High signal. Low noise. Genuinely transformative for the right person.
Pro tip: Attendance is limited, and sponsorship opportunities are intentionally restricted. Submit your registration inquiry early. The room fills with exactly the kind of people you want to be around, which means it fills fast.
Greater New York Dental Meeting
📅 November 27–December 1, 2026 📍 New York, NY 🏛️ New York County and Second District Dental Societies
32,000 dental professionals. 138 countries. The biggest dental meeting in the world. Save it for last.
What it is: The 102nd annual GNYDM, five days in New York City and one of the largest dental congresses on the planet. The scale here is genuinely hard to describe until you have walked the floor. Every major vendor is present, every product category is represented, and the attendee mix spans solo practitioners, large DSOs, international buyers, and everyone in between.
Who should attend: Everyone, but especially practice owners using December to finalize next year's technology and equipment investments, and DSO executives scoping vendor relationships for Q1.
Why it made our list: The timing is perfect. What you see at GNYDM shapes how you spend your budget in the new year. The sheer scale means you can evaluate more vendors, more products, and more partnerships in five days than most people manage in a full year of conferences.
Pro tip: Walk in with a prioritized shopping list. The exhibit floor is enormous, and without a plan, you will lose hours wandering. Know your top three categories before you arrive and work outward from there.
